Rajnath Singh meets US Secy of War Hegseth on sidelines of ASEAN defence ministers' meeting in Philippines

Cebu: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday met US War Secretary Pete Hegseth on sidelines of the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) in Cebu, Philippines. The Defence Minister is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the United States, Japan, Australia from participating nations.

The US War Secretary said during the meeting, the counterparts "celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Framework for our Major Defense Partnership and explored ways to strengthen cooperation."

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In a post on X, Pete Hegseth said, "Great meeting with Indian Minister of Defence Singh. We celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Framework for our Major Defense Partnership and explored ways to strengthen cooperation."

The meeting comes as after the meeting in 2025, both leaders signed the 'framework for the US-India major defence partnership'. The 2025 framework marked a new chapter to further transform the partnership over the next 10 years. According to the Ministry of Defence, it is intended to provide a unified vision and policy direction to deepen defence cooperation.

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Meanwhile, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also met representatives from South Korea, Australia and Japan.

For his meeting with South Korean Defence Minister Kang, he said, "Great meeting with ROK Minister of National Defense Kang at ADMM-Plus. The U.S.-ROK Alliance is built on peace through strength-ready forces, decisive capability, and combined lethality that deters aggression. America stands with allies that are serious about their own defense."

For his meeting with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Marles, he said," It was a pleasure to meet with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Marles. Together, we are optimizing the Alliance to strengthen deterrence and deliver results."

For his meeting with Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, he said, " I met with Japan's Minister of Defense Shinjirō Koizumi @shinjirokoiz to advance our shared vision of peace through strength. Our strategic alignment is essential to building a credible denial defense-supported by increased investment, greater access, more realistic training, and stronger production of the munitions our forces need."

The developments come as Rajnath Singh arrived in Cebu, on Tuesday night to attend the ADMM-Plus, where he will address shared regional and international security issues.

Upon his arrival at Cebu airport, Singh received a ceremonial welcome from M Gen Fabian M Pedregosa PAF (Retd), Undersecretary of the Department of National Defence of the Philippines. Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Harsh Kumar Jain and Defence Attache Captain ChandraKant Kothari were also present to welcome the Defence Minister.

Singh later interacted with members of the Indian community and Filipino nationals upon arriving at his hotel.

On Thursday, the Defence Minister will represent India at the ADMM-Plus meeting and address the forum on common regional and international security challenges.

Before departing for Cebu, Singh reiterated India's commitment to strengthening its engagement with ASEAN and promoting stability across the Indo-Pacific region.

In a post on X, he said, "India is firmly committed to ASEAN centrality and the peace, stability, and collective growth of the Indo-Pacific region under our Act East Policy."

On the sidelines of the meeting, Singh is scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with defence counterparts from several participating countries, including the host nation, the Philippines, as well as the United States, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam and South Korea.